The Gods of Rock 'n' Roll

Night Moves: Allison

Four weeks later...

"Jonas, you have those beers for me yet?"

Allison stood by the bar waiting impatiently for her uncle to get her order ready. She really didn't have the patience to be a server in a bar, but her money had run out, she didn't want to go home to mom, and she still had hope she would hear from Phillip. It was silly, she knew. She'd tried to call, but his men just made excuses; he couldn't talk, he wasn't there, they'd pass on her messages. She took a cab out to the club, only to find it closed down and no one in sight. She even debated hiring a cab to take her to his house, but she couldn't remember how to get there and Jonas refused to help her.

"It's for your own good," he'd say. "You need to forget about Phillip Payne."

Easier said than done.

Jonas hired her on at the bar serving tables and playing with the house band. She was going through the motions, though. Her heart wasn't in it. She felt like a part of her was gone, even more than she had when her brother left her.

Jonas tried to get her to play with him, write music with him, but she had nothing to give. He was worried. He kept threatening to send her home if she didn't get better, so she put on an unhappy face and sassed him enough that he'd think she was fine. It took all of her energy to keep up the ruse.

She still dreamed of Phillip every night, seeing more and more glimpses of his life and his afterlife as a god. It seemed so unfair that she'd come so close to finding her soul mate, even if it were just music, only to have him taken from her. Just like Sal.

He was out of her reach as well, and she worried about him, too, just like a little brother she didn't have any longer. He was still "in training" with Elvis and couldn't be disturbed.

It was useless. She was wasting away.

That night when it was time to play, Jonas told her to take the first set. He had bar business to attend to that night, he said. She grumbled to him, but he threatened her once more.

"I've got a bus ticket with your name on it, little girl."

Fucking hell.

The house band was a pretty cool group of guys and they liked the new songs she threw their way. She'd been using one of Jonas's guitars, but it just didn't feel comfy. It was big and awkward, but she made it work. She took out her frustration on the strings, breaking at least two every night. It gave her something to do, anyway, restringing it daily.

"Guys, I thought maybe I could start off the second set tonight with an acoustic."

They had no problem letting her take the lead. They all treated her like a princess. After their first set, they took a break, and when it was time to start up again, she seated herself on a stool and tuned the damn guitar, ready to take out her aggression once more. The crowd applauded her loudly. She was quickly becoming a favorite with the regulars and making good money in tips. Not that she cared. She was really feeling the blues she was playing. She understood just why Jonas had played the blues for all these years.

She hooked her boot heels on the bottom rung of the stool and took a deep, hopefully cleansing breath before playing the opening chords to "Landslide" by Stevie Nicks.

The song was about fear and change, and having regrets. She had many for being so young. Her heart hurt, and that pain came out through her vocals, her throat still not one hundred percent after the attack. Before she knew it, her eyes filled with tears, but she kept singing. She sang for Robbie, for Sal, and most of all, for Phillip and the huge loss she felt.

The crowd pressed against the stage and she could see the effect her pain was having on all of them. Many of the patrons wiped tears from their faces as they sang along, beers in hand. She watched a woman embrace another who was sobbing. She saw a couple of old bikers pat each other on the back in a comforting gesture. The air was thick with feeling, but not exactly the feeling people came to a bar to find. She wrapped up the song and tried to pull herself together as the crowd cheered her on.

"Do you intend to make them all bawl like babies?"

Allison's heart nearly jumped out of her chest as Phillip took a stool next to her, pulling out a ukulele.

He was dressed much as he'd been the night she met him at the hotel with his long hair pulled back in a hair tie. His smile was so broad and playful. Allison couldn't keep from smiling in return.

Phillip began playing his instrument and the band fell in behind him. Allison quickly recognized the tune as "Cruisin'" and laughed as she joined in right away. Their voices harmonized flawlessly together. Slowly but surely, Allison's funk lifted off her shoulders and her heart filled with hope once more.

He was here. That had to mean something.

The bar patrons sang along with them and, just like that, the tears were gone and the good times were back. The men and women began sharing heated looks with each other. Couples started kissing and dancing slowly with each other, like something out of Dirty Dancing. Allison blushed when she noticed what was going on and finally understood just how powerful her instrument was. She could energize a crowd. She could draw out emotions from onlookers...

But could she do as the song suggested? Give herself over to this feeling, to this song with Phillip, forever?